Plautus's Comedies - photo 1
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Plautus's Comedies

Lot 249
19.10.2023 10:00UTC -05:00
Classic
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$ 1 260
AuctioneerCHRISTIE'S
Event locationUSA, New York
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ID 1032904
Lot 249 | Plautus's Comedies
Estimate value
$ 1 000 – 2 000
PLAUTUS, Titus Maccius (c.254-184). Ex Plauti comoediis xx quarum carmina magna e parte in mensum suum restituta sunt. Venice: Heirs of Aldus, July 1522.

First true Aldine edition of the oldest surviving complete works in Latin, with student annotations. The text was "edited by Gian Francesco Torresani, but in his preface he claims to have relied on editorial work conducted by Aldus Manutius and Erasmus in 1508, when Erasmus was living with Aldus and working on the publication of his Adages" (Clemons and Fletcher). Plautus's comedies are some of the oldest extant examples of the Latin language, making them a frequent object of high-minded scholarly interest—even as the content, full of mistaken identity, pratfalls, and sex jokes as plot points, might be firmly regarded as "low culture." The scholar Amy Richlin has suggested that his work represents "slave theater," reflecting the desires and thoughts of the enslaved and formerly-enslaved theatrical troupes who produced the plays, as well as made up part of the audience alongside more elite Romans. Plautus's enduring popularity at all levels of society is reflected in the many adaptations of his work from Shakespeare to Sondheim. There is an earlier Lyonnaise counterfeit edition of the comedies as well. Adams P-1487; Renouard 94.2; UCLA 211; Clemons and Fletcher 74. See also Amy Richlin, Slave Theater in the Roman Republic: Plautus and Popular Comedy (2017).

Quarto (196 x 131mm). Woodcut Aldine device on title page and final page (title page slightly soiled with washed old ownership inscription; a few narrow dampstains and other spots). 18th-century stiff vellum, flat spine stamped in gilt with morocco labels (lower headband detached, wear at extremities). Provenance: student marginalia to the Amphitryo, washed inscription on title.
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